Meet Anmol Sandhu | Director, Actor, Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anmol Sandhu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anmol, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
The biggest thing that matters to me currently is representation for myself and other South Asians. Growing up there where no role models and the roles that existed were stereotypical ones. But growing up I dealt with a lot of racism, bullying, and discrimination as a 1st-generation middle class Punjabi-American in California’s Central Valley. With that in mind along with the lack of cultural exposure, I didn’t know where I fit in. I was “whitewashed” but was perceived an a foreign outsider, though I was born here. Naturally, I escaped through Film/TV/Internet/Video games. When I was in the 8th grade, my school got a theatre program. That class offered me an outlet to be someone else since I wasn’t comfortable with myself, that I could be anyone else I wanted rather than this kid who had no idea who he was and everyone else telling me who I’m supposed to be. The ability to creatively express myself, tell the stories of my community and of my people have been the motivation for me to pursue a creative career. It means everything to me to represent the stories of those who can’t tell them and to show the world that South Asians exist in more than one way. I never had an Indian role model growing up to show that I could do that, and I find it important to create one so that the next generation of Indian children can know they can be more than whatever preconceived notions of us exist.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have an affinity for the genres of neo-noir, coming-of-age, historical, and epics. I think what sets me apart from other filmmakers is my willingness to be do what is necessary to tell the story. Either the research, being a social chameleon and blending in with groups whose stories I want to explore, or even going for guerrilla filmmaking techniques because shooting in LA is extremely expensive now for new filmmakers.

Regardless of that, I’m very excited to tell the stories of our generation. As I was born in 1998, I got to see a Millennial and Gen Z upbringing and the stories there are ripe for exploration on a massive scale since I realize we have a lot more in common growing up in the Digital Age.

I’m most proud of my thesis film that I made at LMU called “Bollywood Goes Hollywood” which was a love letter to the 90’s-era Bollywood movies that I grew up watching. Being able to showcase some South Asian-inspired cinema was a goal of mine and being able to screen it at multiple South Asian film festival nationwide was so needed as it allowed me to meet other storytellers from the diaspora and know that we exist.

But how I got to where I’m at now hasn’t been easy. There is no plan or roadmap to a career in entertainment, let alone for a person of color. I tried to teach myself through YouTube tutorials as a child and stealing my dad’s camcorder. Growing up in the Central Valley made it harder since there was no film scene going on. So I took the theatre and video production courses offered in high school, got my Bachelor’s in film, got my MFA in Film/TV Production immediately after, and am trying to make my career happen currently. And it is very difficult for us all. Graduating into the 2023 SAG/WGA strikes impacted everyone I know and it’s been a slow recovery since. I’ve lost track of how many entry-level positions I’ve applied to at studios, agencies, etc that I’ve applied to. So in the meantime, I might as well work on my own stories and make that happen because no one is going to come to you with a blank check. I’ve had to work hard to get to where I’m at now, and I’m only going to work harder to succeed.

I’ve learned that nobody will give you anything in this industry, it is who you know, and you have to be yourself authentically (as corny as it sounds). Sticking out from the crowd is how you get seen, being pleasant to everyone, LISTENING, and a motivation to create are some of the things I’ve learned during my 3 years in LA so far.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve done so much in LA and I still feel like I barely scratched the surface of things to do.

With me, I’m taking you to a specialty theater like the New Beverly, Brain Dead Studios, the Vista, or the American Cinematheque theaters to catch a classic on 35mm. Then we can get some Jon & Vinny’s, Uovo Pasta, Daikokuya, Leo’s Taco Trucks for a nice meal.

Concerts? Please, we can catch a show for $40-$60 at the many venues in town.

Going out? Can’t go wrong with Jameson’s, The Brig, Victorian, Short Stop, or Zebulon in town for a nice night of dancing. Or even the warehouse parties in Downtown!

Nature? Say less, a beach outing at Torrance State Beach, a trail on Kenneth Hahn.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There’s a saying I follow: “People are in your life for either a reason, a season, or a lifetime”. Many people and groups have come and gone in my life that have supported me, along with those that have stayed with me this whole time. My parents first and foremost, I mean having 2 immigrants parents come straight from India with the idea that they’re kid is going to be a doctor/lawyer/engineer and see that their son wants to work in Hollywood was probably not what they expected. But they’ve been supportive to no end and I owe it all to them and they’re who I do it all for. But my family at large has been champions of me to represent our people.

My little film school collective called the “Cinema Babes” have been my family since moving to LA, and I wouldn’t know what I’d do without them. We’ve helped each other on our student films and have been working together to make our next projects now that we’ve graduated.

All my friends from Fresno and a little valley town called Hanford have been my biggest fans since I took this seriously and I couldn’t be more grateful to them.

My friends/faculty at Cal State Monterey Bay & Loyola Marymount have all contributed in some capacity to help me with my endeavors and I owe it all to them, especially with the amazing professors that refined my skills and helped me find my creative voice.

Instagram: @anmol_the_animal

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anmolsandhu